4 Weeks Left For Mumbai Marathon

Okay, now I am shitting in my pants. Suddenly realisation has struck me that only a month is left for me to run on the streets of Mumbai. It is appearing like a High school final exam in which if I don't do well then I will get crucified. It feels like still a lot of syllabus is left and I am under prepared. Of course and that's because I missed out on training for around 10 days in which I missed out 2 long runs. Though my base training has been solid this time.

My previous post in which I highlighted my mistakes during Hyderabad Marathon have still not been achieved completely. Let's have a look.

1. NUTRITION - I have generally read up on this subject a lot and tried it while doing a 26 km run. But still need to test it during my coming longest run of 35 km.

2. REDUCE WEIGHT - I am still the same. DAMN! I blame the delicious Hyderabadi food. No one can resist it. But now I guess it's time to loose atleast 3 kg in last 4 weeks. It's doable but with Christmas and New Year coming....I don't know! But I have become stronger than my previous marathon attempt, nevertheless.

3. ROUTE RECCE - Can't right now because I am in different city. Probably will try to go over the last portion of the route during the Expo day.

4. LONG RUNS - Did a max of 26 km till now. Still a 35 km run is left which I am planning to do on 05 Jan 13. It's two weeks prior to the race day. Giving myself 2 weeks of taper. And I have figured out my pace of these training runs, thanks to http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/. I have realised that I am currently primed to achieve a 4.10 finish.

5. TEMPO RUNS - Now this aspect is the trouble area. These last 4 weeks are devoted to tempo, less of interval and more of hill running( to get stronger).

6. STRONGER CORE - I am relieved about this part. I have worked really hard in this area.

Tickets for Mumbai are done. Accommodation needs to be tied up. Doing a 30 km tomorrow. Hoping to get stronger, faster and lighter by the time I stand on the start line on 20 Jan 13. Preparation for a marathon is no joke. Got to respect the distance. It is equally difficult for the family as the runner is always in energy deficit. Thanks to my understanding wife and ignorant kid, I am able to do what I am doing. It's more of a marathon for them than for me. I swear to take a long break after this one i.e until the next Hyderabad Marathon in Aug or Sept and Banglore Ultra in Nov. That's it.

What I See When I Go For A Long Run

When I move out of my house in the dark of the morning, locking the door behind and thinking of my peacefully sleeping wife and son, I am quite content and happy to be going for a run. But there are things which I see on the roads disturbs me and would like to share to have your views about it.

There are things or people on the roads which makes me wonder as to where are we, as a country, headed to. I will just list out the observations or sightings :-

1. One day while running, it was still dark, I thought I saw a big rock in the middle of the road. On closer look, I realised it was a man covered  in a blanket, with a small puppy being his best friend.

2. A mad man, I presumed on seeing his antics, pissing in the middle of the main road.

3. Another mad man, shouting in the middle of the road and abusing everybody passing him. I had to go to the other side of the road to avoid him.

4. There's one particular flyover where on the the sides I always find empty bottles of beer or whisky or spent up condoms. Though there are drinking places below that flyover, I wonder how these bottles find their way up.

5. There is a bit of chill in the morning, so naturally people feel cold especially the security guards or the early morning cleaners. Why is that they have to burn rubber or wood or paper or plastic to keep warm? Why can't they just wear some more warm clothes!

6. One day on the side of the road was sitting an old woman. She had a very sad look on her face which I was not able to forget till a couple of kms.

7. A couple sleeping in front of a two wheeler showroom, covered in a single blanket. The guy, obviously having an increased T levels in the morning, was trying to poke his wife. The wife looking irritated with his excitement was slapping him hard. Poor guy can't even get a room because he is, I guess, very poor.

8. The most annoying thing is that people having disregards to vehicular safety i.e two vehicle drivers not wearing helmet. It is an unsaid leeway giving by the administration of Andhra Pradesh to not to wear helmet. How can this be possible? The whole country wears helmet but people in AP are special to not to wear helmets. IT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. WAKE UP AP GOVT.

9. It's about time that the govt introduce CNG in the state. I literally hold my breath whenever an auto rickshaw crosses me as it is releasing tons of toxic, black fumes from it's backside!

I have tried to telling people to wear helmet at traffic lights or not burn waste or getting their vehicles checked but I get ridiculous answers ranging from better visibility w/o helmet or ONLY TELEGU, NO HINDI. I love my country but also feel ashamed of these ugly issues. I always think about what can I do to help but except bringing up these problems and being an ideal citizen myself, is there anything else I can do?

I need answers. But I can't find it sadly. And the more I read about the current happenings of the country in the papers, the more I feel exasperated. Not everything is bad in the country but somethings are totally out of order which, I believe, is stopping us from progressing.

Any views people!